Saturday, June 27, 2009

Vinexpo

I twittered a bit about working at Vinexpo last week. It occurs to me, however, that many of you probably have very little idea of what Vinexpo is all about.

What can I say? Vinexpo is the world's biggest wine fair. It's a professionals-only affair but I get to go along with an army of other interpreters to translate the conferences and the tastings for wine experts from every corner of the wine-loving globe.

This massive circus of all things wine takes place every two years in the Parc des Expositions at Bordeaux Lac. A floating walkway — orange this year — takes you across the lake to the main building which is over two kilometres long. This year's attendance was down 7% with only 47000 visitors due to the slump, but there was certainly no evidence of slumpiness in the ethanol-laden air. Inside the main building you could walk for hours and hours along alleys lined with stands from all over the world vying for attention. Bespoke besuited buyers and sellers gargled and spat.

There's a lot of money in wine and I'm quite sure that the cumulative value of just the shiny shoes on the attendees feet would match the GDP of a medium-sized country.

Rents vary tremendously in Bordeaux. I helped one of my daughters look for a one room flat/studio last September. In fact she was going to share with her boyfriend so we also looked at two roomed places which were MUCH better value.No estate agent seems better than any other. It is all a matter of pure chance. The best advice I can give you is DONT be in a hurry and visit thousands until you find the right one!Claire found a beautiful two roomed flat between Cours Victor Hugo and Cours Alscace Lorraine for 523 euros but she was only the second to visit. I had just seen ONE room in Alsace Lorraine with no windows for 400 euros. BE CAREFUL!